PORTALES, NEW MEXICO – UT Tyler baseball kept up their winning ways on Saturday as their offense stayed hot in both games of Saturday's doubleheader to take a strong 2-0 lead in the series.
 
GAME ONE
 
It took just two batters for the Patriots to get on the board, as Kaston Mason blasted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead. That early lead was handed over to starter Miles Clack, who worked a 1-2-3 inning to start the game.
 
In the top of the second, the bats caught fire, as Ethan Bedgood started out with a single before Adrian Minjares homered down the left field line to take a 3-0 lead. Three more runs would come around to score in the inning, as Nathan Carriere scored on an Edward Ortiz sacrifice bunt, and Mason delivered his second home run of the game, this time a two run blast to left field that plated Jordan Gochenour.
 
With a big lead in place, Clack went right back out to work the second inning, but the Greyhounds found their own rhythm at the plate to the tune of eight runs in the inning and took a narrow two run lead. Those runs came after a walk and four consecutive singles plated the first three runs. A groundout would lead to the second out of the inning, but Eastern New Mexico kept the rally going with another single and a hit by pitch. A triple cleared the bases, and that batter would come around to score on a throwing error. Two more singles would plate the eighth run of the inning, and lead to an 8-6 score through two.
 
Both teams would settle into a pitcher's duel over the next two innings, as neither side would plate a run over the next three innings. Leading that charge from the Patriots was Harrison Lee, who worked a 1-2-3 inning in the third inning and worked around a single in the fourth to keep the Greyhounds scoreless. In the fifth, Lee worked another three up, three down inning to keep the Patriots within striking distance.
 
That hard work from Lee would pay off, as UT Tyler took the lead in the top of the sixth inning. A Minjares walk led off the inning, and Carson Cox doubled to put them both in scoring position. A fielder's choice plated the first run, and Gochenour came up big with a double of his own to tie the game. A pass ball would score the next run, and Lane Hutchinson doubled ddown the left field line to drive in the final run of the inning.
 
The Greyhounds would strike back in the bottom of the sixth as Garrett Arredondo came on to pitch in the inning. That run was plated after back to back walks and back to back singles. The Patriots answered in the seventh with another run after a sacrifice fly from Cox.
 
In the bottom half of the seventh, Arredondo worked a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to end the inning and the game for the Patriots.
 
Harrison Lee got his first win of the season on the mound after going three full innings and allowing no runs on one hit. He struck out three and walked one.
 
Gochenour, Mason, Ochoa, Bedgood, and Minjares all totaled two hits on the day as the Patriots had 13 as a team. Mason did the most damage, as he had two home runs and three RBI in the contest.
 
GAME TWO
 
In game two of the day, it was Eastern New Mexico who would score first, as an RBi single off of starter Dylan Blomquist gave them a 1-0 lead. The Patriots would quickly battle back, as Austin Ochoa went yard to left field to tie up the game.
 
Blomquist got back to work in the second, posting a pair of strikeouts and a fielder's choice around a single to end any threat of runs scored. That work would allow the Patriots to pick up their starter again in the third, as Edward Ortiz drilled a triple to center field and Jordan Gochenour quickly drove him home on an RBI groundout. Kaston Mason and Lane Hutchinson reached base on a hit by pitch and a single to left field, and Ethan Bedgood would drive in the third run of the game with his own RBI single.
 
Three straight singles for the Greyhounds would load the bases in the third innin, but Blomquist limited the damage in a huge way with a ground ball double play and then a flyout to allow just one run and keep the Patriots out in front.
 
The offense stayed hot in the fourth, as they plated five runs to take a commanding lead in the game. With two on and one out in the inning, Gochenour dropped in an infield single to plate the first run. Mason stepped to the plate, and he ripped a double to left field to drive home two more. A hit by pitch and a walk loaded up the bases, and Bedgood drove in two runs of his own with a single to left field and put UT Tyler up 8-2.
 
Blomquist kept his rhythm going in the fourth, as he worked around another single with two more stirkeouts and a flyout. In the fifth, he would walk his first batter before getting a flyout and a lineout double play to keep the Patriots out in front by a wide margin.
 
The Patriots in the fifth plated three more runs thanks two back to back doubles from Ochoa and Bedgood, and a sacrifice fly from Gochenour in the sixth drove in their 12^th run of the game. Two more runs came across in the seventh inning thanks to a pair of wild pitches, and the Patriots held a commanding 14-2 lead.
 
Blomquist's day would finish after five innings, and he handed it over to Bryson Adair. Adair worked a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts, and was in line to finish out the game in a run rule in the seventh inning.
 
However, a pair of runs for the Greyhounds from a double to left field cut the lead down to 10, and a sacrifice fly to left field pulled them within nine runs to stave off the run rule. Nick Oslovar would trot out to take over for Adair in the eighth, and he would allow just one run from an RBI double to keep the Patriots well without of reach heading to the ninth.
 
Oslovar settled in in the ninth inning, and after the leadoff hitter reached on an error, he got a strikeout looking for the first out. The runner was caught stealing for the second out, and Oslovar induced the groundout to second base to end the inning and the game.
 
Dylan Blomquist got the win and moved to 3-0 on the season after going five full innings and allowing just two runs on seven hits. He struck out five batters while walking just one on the day.
 
Six Patriots had multi-hit games in game two of the day, led by Ethan Bedgood and Edward Ortiz with four each. Ortiz scored three run and added in a walk, and Ethan Bedgood finished 4-for-6 with four RBI and a run scored.
 
The Patriots get back to work tomorrow in Portales, New Mexico as they play their second consecutive doubleheader. That first game will start at 11 a.m. central time and will be seven innings. The final game of the series will follow approximately 30 minutes after the first game ends.